London, UK, 25th May 2011 Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Following the announcement of delays to the sales start to the following lenses : EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM, EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM, EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM, EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM and EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM, Canon can now provide an update on the planned start dates for these lenses:

EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Late August, 2011

EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM Late August, 2011

EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM Late July, 2011

EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM December 2011*

EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM December 2011*

Canon would like to apologise to any customers who have been inconvenienced by these delays.

*Any sales start dates will be communicated as soon as they become available.

Being that this is *just* far off enough to not be totally implausible . . . I'm going to hold back on a full-fledged 'when bacon gets wings' comment . . . but seriously, this thing has been Canon's campaign promise that we've heard a lot about but are still waiting for

My feeling is that no new lens announcements will be made until they've sorted this mess out.

Generally, I'm not one to second-guess Canon (or Nikon). I can't argue with their success. But, I do admit this whole lens thing has me wondering.

I didn't pay much attention when these lenses were first announced because lenses that cost thousands of dollars aren't likely to show up in my camera bag anytime soon. I never really understood why they felt the need to upgrade these Big Whites and assumed it had more to do with market positioning than anything else.

But, as the months go by without the product actually being delivered, it sure does seem that it's got to be a little embarrassing. And, I agree that it's a little hard to announce and deliver other lenses while these announcements gather dust.

My feeling is that no new lens announcements will be made until they've sorted this mess out.

Generally, I'm not one to second-guess Canon (or Nikon). I can't argue with their success. But, I do admit this whole lens thing has me wondering.

I didn't pay much attention when these lenses were first announced because lenses that cost thousands of dollars aren't likely to show up in my camera bag anytime soon. I never really understood why they felt the need to upgrade these Big Whites and assumed it had more to do with market positioning than anything else.

But, as the months go by without the product actually being delivered, it sure does seem that it's got to be a little embarrassing. And, I agree that it's a little hard to announce and deliver other lenses while these announcements gather dust.

1. As megapixels increase, the dSLRs start to out-resolve the lenses.

2. New technology, including the newer IS modes.

3. Competition. If you sit still, you fall behind.

4. Part of the delay has been caused by the natural disasters in Japan, which is where the bodies and lenses are produced.

NXT1000

that is so great, almost 1 year delay, and meanwhile there are no stock of the old version I lens. The version I was almost perfect already, the new lens should be better, but much more expensive. They must have encounter massive technical problem trying to improve perfection.

4. Part of the delay has been caused by the natural disasters in Japan, which is where the bodies and lenses are produced

1. This an oft quoted urban myth! megapixels would need to increase an awful lot more to even start to outresolve lenses, and even then different colours resolve differently , due to the wavelendth of light.

In resolution terms an 8MP camera has 3456 by 2304 pixels the 5D MkII has 5616 x 3744 an increase of nearly 2.5x the number of MP but resolution hasn't even been doubled - just a 60% increase. This becomes even harder to increase as the numbers get bigger to double the resolution of the 5D MkII the sensor would need to be an incredible 84MP !

What will happen as resolution increases on FF cameras is the flaws in lenses such as corner & border resolution will become even more noticable, and it does beg the question as to whether that is a price worth paying.

2. Are you referring to the new H-IS mode? WHat would be the point in putting that into new lenses when it's designed for the lateral movement seen in macro photography? It makes no difference at all when it's in a normal lens, unless it's used in close up.

Flake

When & if the Canon 200 - 400mm f/4 is released you can expect it to carry a price ticket of around Â£5000 Nikons version is slightly less than this but it doesn't have the 1.4 TC built in. It's a ridiculous amount of money unless you have money to burn, or you're using it as a professional and it's paying it's way.

The latest Sigma 120 - 300mm f/2.8 OS with a 1.4 TC will give you the same focal length at half the price, and if you're wondering about the image quality it's well up to the mark check out the recent review on Photozone.

Bob Howland

When & if the Canon 200 - 400mm f/4 is released you can expect it to carry a price ticket of around Â£5000 Nikons version is slightly less than this but it doesn't have the 1.4 TC built in. It's a ridiculous amount of money unless you have money to burn, or you're using it as a professional and it's paying it's way.

The latest Sigma 120 - 300mm f/2.8 OS with a 1.4 TC will give you the same focal length at half the price, and if you're wondering about the image quality it's well up to the mark check out the recent review on Photozone.

That's what I love about these forums, having the same discussions with the same people, over and over and over again.

You're probably right about the price, but calling it "ridiculous" is a bit extreme. I don't want a 120-420, where I have to remove the lens from the camera to add or remove a TC. That's the situation I'm in with my 300 f/2.8 now. I want a 200-560 that I can leave on the camera all afternoon. (If Sigma introduced a 200-500 f/4 or, better yet, f/2.8-4, I'd seriously consider that, especially if the maximum aperture was f/2.8 between 200mm and 350mm.) And, oh yes, my Sigma 2X TC is pretty bad.